[MUD-Dev] Teaching ethics in MUDs (was Re: "An essay on d00dism and the MMORPG")

[Zak Jarvis]

> From: John Buehler [johnbue at msn.com]
> Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2001 4:13 PM

> Consider the case of EverQuest, with a player publishing fiction
> using the Norrathian venue.  I think Verant did the absolutely right
> thing by taking steps to discourage that player.  

> I say that by taking the situation to an extreme.  If the fictional
> work had not been stamped 'outcast' by Verant (my choice of terms)
> and that style of story came to be associated with EverQuest, the
> story images begin to be a bit of backstory for players of the
> world.  Players would start to make little, innocent comments about

<highlight>
> such, bending the Norrathian venue a bit at a time.  That
> contributes to situations where rapists and pedophiles might pursue
> contact outside the game.  I'm not saying that it *causes* it by any
> stretch.
</highlight>

Ah yes. Rape and pedophilia cannot exist if no one is allowed to talk
about them. It also really helps if you've been raped to be certain
that no one can ever talk about rape again.

Silence equals safety.

At risk of providing no content here, I'll retreat from highly
irritated mode and back up my indignation with a bit of light as well
as heat.

Ultimately the only reason Verant provided for canceling the account
of = the player in question was "Someone complained to us, and
threatened us = with some right-wing morality police."

This is a very far cry indeed from stamping the work as 'outcast'.

A better question here would be:

Could the banned player win monetary damages against Verant in court?

I strongly suspect that the right lawyer could most certainly make it
happen. Would it hold up under appeals? Who knows. I'd actually really
like to see it play out in court, but I seriously doubt that the
player would want to pursue it, especially as long as there are people
who are willing to assert that rape fantasies are equivalent to the
desire to rape or be raped.

-Zak Jarvis
 Artist/Designer on a still un-announced project.
 http://www.voidmonster.com

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